Salted Tahini + Chocolate Cookies | GF + Vegan

This recipe for Salted Tahini + Chocolate Cookies is in honour of food freedom! A fellow autoimmune warrior and blogger, Sara aka Ms. Health-Esteem, recently received a comment from a reader that ripped into some of the content she had shared regarding her personal health journey and the fact that autoimmunity has no cure. While comments such as this are unfortunately common in the world of blogging and social media, the reader then topped it off with a scathing judgement on Sara still eating cookies. GASP! (See Sara’s badass video reply here!)

I don’t care what your opinion on cookies is – unsolicited judgement, to a stranger at that, is one of the reasons diet culture, restriction, binge-eating, and closet-eating exist. While everyone is entitled to their opinions, and obviously nobody should eat cookies if they don’t want to, the judgement needs to STOP.

For greatest health, you probably don’t want to eat cookies (or many other things) on a daily basis. But this in no way makes cookies (or many other things) an enemy to health. Nor does it mean that you can’t achieve great health (or even remission from an autoimmune disease!) by having a few cookies in your diet. Mostly, though, eating cookies should never open up a fellow human to judgement or ridicule.

Life is just too short to not enjoy a few cookies! (End rant).

As to THESE cookies…

With the world in its current state, I have certainly been feeling a tumbleweed of emotions. The vibrating anxiety in the air leaves me feeling like a wet sponge; heavy and spent. I spent the first week thinking about food constantly – baking, snacking, and devouring chocolate like it would comfort me (it did a little…).

The past couple weeks have felt calmer in the food department, but my emotions continue to run high (let’s face it, I don’t usually rant about cookies and food freedom haha). Though life is settling somewhat, we can probably all agree that comfort and reassurance is definitely still needed.

Comfort comes in the form of funny TV shows, cooking, flipping through beautiful cookbooks, counselling sessions, chatting with friends and family, sunshine, spring flowers and trees bursting into green, long solitary walks in nature, and a few luscious treats!

Cookies may not be “healthy” in the common sense, but energetically they can be viewed as grounding, nourishing, building… essentially, they are purely comforting. Refined sugar may be inflammatory, but the sweet taste, when used mindfully as a balm, as opposed to an escape, can nourish us in heart, soul and mind. I don’t know about you, but I believe that kind of nourishment has a place in most our lives.

During traumatic events, be it a global pandemic or a chronic illness, we shouldn’t need to be concerned about what food is “good” or “bad”. We shouldn’t be shamed for gaining or losing weight, for achieving less or more, or just scraping by the best we can. Stay safe – we’ve got this!

Salted Tahini + Chocolate Cookies | GF + Vegan

Recipe by Emily HardingCourse: Cookies, Dairy-free, Dessert, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Plant-based, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan

Servings

16

servings

Total time

20

minutes

These Salted Tahini + Chocolate Cookies are that perfect mix of slightly crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside, with big, ooey-gooey pools of chocolate. The flavours of sweet, bitter and salty meld gorgeously!

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. tahini

• 1/4 c. + 1 Tbsp olive oil (or avocado oil)

• 3/4 c. brown sugar (or coconut sugar)

• 1/4 c. plant milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 c. gluten free all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

• 1/4 c. rolled oats or shredded coconut (optional, for texture)

• 1/2 tsp each nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt

• 50g (1/2 bar) 80% or 90% dark chocolate, chopped coarsely

• Additional coarse or flaked salt for topping

Method

• Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a baking sheet by greasing or lining with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together tahini, oil, sugar, plant milk and vanilla. Add flour, optional oats or coconut, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and powder. Once incorporated, fold in chopped chocolate.
• Drop by tablespoon onto prepared baking sheet and press down halfway with fingers. Bake 10 minutes, or until golden brown around bottom edge.
• Once cooked, transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with additional coarse or flaked sea salt for a gorgeous, decadent cookie that is sure to satisfy!

Recipe Notes

• Store in a tin or glass container for up to a week. Freezes well.

Love these Salted Tahini + Chocolate Cookies? Try these cookies too:

Winter Gingerbread Cookies

N’oatmeal Squash Cookies